Toads On A Road To The Hogwarts Express
by NicholePumpkin
Summary: "Gran, I think I lost my toad again." "Oh, Neville!" A spin-off on the Headcanon in Sorceror's Stone where Neville loses his toad and his gran berates him about it (and a number of other things).


**Title:** Toads On A Road To The Hogwarts Express

**Prompt:** Neville and his grandmother portraying the importance of Longbottom

**Date:** February 1st, 2013

* * *

"You lost your toad _again?_" Augustus Longbottom said. "Oh, _Neville._"

Neville attempted to hide from his grandmother's disappointed frown; the corners on Neville's grandmother's face's favorite place were to pull was downward, apparantly. It wasn't _his_ fault (he tried to convince himself) that his toad was more lively and adventurous than other similar toads like Trevor might be. But his grandmother was still in earshot and of course she wasn't going anywhere until he stepped on the train, so he figured there was no other way to deny the fact that yes, he had lost his toad again (even though he was pretty sure Trevor knew where he was), and no, he did not know when his toad would be coming back (most likely on his own time). He, himself, had forgotten that Trevor was safely tucked away in his trunk.

"Yes, grandmother," Neville tried to appease her in a small voice. "I— I don't know where—"

"Another thing you don't know," his grandmother snapped at him. "You better not forget how to go to your classes, or else we'll have to bring you straight home if you're determined to get lost on your first day to classes."

As Neville deflated, he saw that his grandmother's lips were set in a pursed frown, creasing her lined face even more than usual— if Neville had one Galleon every time he didn't please his grandmother as much as he'd like to, he'd have a Manor larger than the one his grandmother raised him in. Not that he'd move there, of course, without his grandmother's permission (which, to him, sounded more like an "opinion" than anything else, or maybe the right word would be "criticism"— it varied from time to time).

Even now as they were in King's Cross waiting for the school train to come and pick him up as well as all the other Muggleborns and pureblood first years' families, they were as early as they could be, for not even the Most Noble and Ancient Black family had arrived earlier than them (his grandmother would have absolutely no excuse for missing the train in his first time to the school, let alone being late to the station). He could see her working at a grim, somewhat pleased smirk, satisfied that the Black family was beaten for once at something the Longbottom and Black family both did— it was custom to arrive at the station, but it was more of a tradition to race other families and show who was the most dignified Pureblood family of all (although it didn't really matter to Neville; he didn't like the Blacks much, but it gave him the same satisfaction of showing them they weren't the only pureblood Wizarding family around).

There was something else in his grandmother's face he couldn't quite put his finger on. He was composed (not that his grandmother expected anything less) and he subconsciously straightened his back (his grandmother was always whinging on about him getting round shoulders if he didn't pay enough attention to his body— she couldn't have a son who was bent over, of course not, it would ruin something something of the Longbottom's something something in the family, he thought it had something to do with respect) but Augustus Longbottom's face was turned, and her shoulders looked to be slouched down, in a deflated manner. No one was here yet, otherwise Neville was sure she'd puff out her chest as much as she could, however it was still a surprise to see his grandmother... what was the word? _Relaxed,_ Neville scolded himself internally. _You need to pay more attention to vocabulary!_

"Grandmother, what's bothering you?" He decided that if he could ask in a dignified manner any pureblood son would do, he wouldn't annoy her.

"Who said anything is bothering me?" she said, her eyes attempting to squint in a calculating expression. It was fair enough to pass if someone wasn't looking hard enough, but it (unusually, he thought in alarm) wasn't up to his grandmother's standards as it might be at a dinner party, or a meeting with the Minister of Magic.

No one was watching— no one was paying attention. No one was even in the station yet, and he came to the conclusion that most Wizarding families must just be Flooing or Apparating here in the next moment.

For one moment of ecstatic fantasy and for pure self-pleasure, something he didn't have very often with all of the expectations the Longbottoms had for him as the heir of Longbottom Manor, he envisioned himself flinging his arms around his grandmother's poised shoulders, tripping all over his trunk and perhaps losing his toad again (unlike everyone else's thoughts, he always did make sure Trevor, his most prized possession, was in his trunk. However his grandmother, as fascinating as this reaction was for a matriarch of a pureblood family, was often forgetful about it in her old age), giving his grandmother the love and affection he always dreamed of—

"Get off!" he heard a mumble interrupt his daydreaming. He thought he heard a rib crack from trying not to laugh so much, because he _was_ in public, even if no one was even riding their cart through the wall yet; but he saw the bent corners of his grandmother's lined face curl up into... was that a smile? he questioned himself uneasily. The expression was so foreign to Augustus Longbottom he almost forgot what it was like to see her grin. A full blown out _grin!_

It was then he realized that he didn't just envision what he had thought of— he _did_ it, with the courage of a Gryffindor (Stop deluding yourself, he scolded himself. You're probably going to be a boring Hufflepuff at this rate!), the cunning of a Slytherin, the smarts of a Ravenclaw and the utter loyalty of a Hufflepuff (or at least, in his opinion).

"Remember," she whispered to him as they pulled apart, her face unusually softened with concern, "You are my grandson, and no one can take that away from me. You are Frank and Alice Longbottom's son, the two most educated and respected, mark you, Aurors to date. Don't ruin it," she added with a strained smile. He nodded, and as more and more families came streaming onto the platform, they parted ways— it wouldn't do if he couldn't find a compartment on his first time on the Hogwarts Express.

* * *

**Author's Note:** No toads were lost within the creation of his fanfic.  
Neville had, in fact, remembered the place where his toad was kept in  
record time, and as soon as he was seen talking to one Hermione Granger  
on the Hogwarts Express, he forgot about Trevor again, since he was so immersed  
in talking to Miss Granger on the train: he even forgot she was a Muggleborn.  
If you recall from the first book of Harry Potter,  
he had found his toad again without the help of said Miss Granger,  
as they rode the boats across The Black Sea to enter the castle of  
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry for the first time.


End file.
